Needs vs. Rights

Introduction

Very briefly, it seems to make more sense to talk about needs than rights. Our needs seem to come from nature and are therefore closer to nature. Our "rights," on the other hand seem to come from other humans.

For for example, let's say you are in jail, how do you know what your rights are? Probably you would have to be told what they are. Or you would have to consult a lawyer or law books.

But how would you know what your needs are? I suggest that it would be your own body which tells you.

Thus, your needs are individual, personal.

Your "rights" though, would be the same as someone else in prison, again according to what someone else had decided.

Many cultures promote the concept of "equal rights." A problem though, is that our needs are not equal. And the "rights" of someone in jail, for example, are not the same as the rights of someone who is not in jail, so no society really practices the ideal of equal rights.

Focusing on needs helps us reach our goal of a society where people's individual needs are addressed and filled.

Can you take someone's rights away? Can you take their needs away?

You can take away rights. In some countries, such as the USA, important legal documents, such as the Declaration of Independence of the USA, states that rights are "unalienable". In other words, they can't be taken away. But we simply have to consider a prisoner to realize that rights can be taken away.

Needs on the other hand, are filled, not given, granted, taken away. You can take away a person's right to something, but not his or her need for it.

This point out a problem with a society based on one group of people having power over another group. The group in power decides what the "rights" are and it also has the power to grant or take away the "rights" of others.

It can be helpful to think of rights as "permissions." For example, when someone in power says "You don't have the right to..." it can often be the same as "You don't have the permission to..."

This brings to mind the quote "Poor is the man whose pleasure depends upon the permission of another."